We announced on Sunday the exciting news that Bishop John has confirmed a call to ordained ministry for two of our members – Joshua Skeat and Gill Briggs.

Joshua joined our church at the end of 2008 and has ministered with us and amongst us in many ways.  In 2010 Josh was commissioned to work amongst us as an Assistant Minister.  During this year he has also been undertaking theological studies.

Gill was a member of our original seed team that formed Connections in 2004.  She is a significant gift to the church,  leading us in corporate worship, caring for and mentoring many of our members.  Her passion and zeal are infectious.

Ordination is one way in which the Anglican church recognises, affirms, and authorises ministry and gifts in service to not just the local but also the wider church.

Sermon on Hebrews chapter 3, verses 7-19
by Joshua Skeat, from June 13, 2010.

The second warning found in the book of Hebrews – don’t harden your hearts.

Here the writer warns of the ramifications of hardening our hearts, as the Israelites did in the desert during the exodus, through an active choice to rebel against God and to turn aside or walk away from where he is leading. For the people of Israel in the desert, their rebellion meant that they were unable to enter the promised land – what will the ramifications be for us if we choose to harden our hearts in rebellion?

If we harden our hearts, we become unteachable, unwilling to follow, unwilling to serve – unable to be Christ-like. As a community, if we are hard-hearted and meeting out of habit, then we will achieve nothing, but if we are soft-hearted and Jesus-focussed then the world around us will be changed and we will know who we are, we will know what God is calling us to, and most importantly we will be doing it.

Sermon on Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1-6
by David Owens, from June 6, 2010.

Sermon on Hebrews, chapter 2, verses 2-18
by Joshua Skeat, from May 23, 2010.

On first reading this passage appears complicated and difficult to understand, but step by step, as we peer into it, we can see a simple gospel-shaped framework underneath:

• There is a created order as it should be – God, Angels, Humanity, All other creation
• Things aren’t as they should be – because of sin
• God came, in the person of Jesus, to be a little lower than the angel, and through his suffering was glorified
• Jesus claims us as brothers, as children and takes human responsibility for human sin
• Jesus shared our humanity, to destroy the power of sin and death held by the devil – so that we too can be raised with Christ, no longer bound by it
• Jesus engages with real life – he understands what it is to be human, he was tempted, he suffered, and he can help us too.

Sermon on Hebrews, chapter 2, verses 1-4
by Joshua Skeat, from May 16, 2010.

In this passage of Hebrews, the writer gives warning to the people to pay attention to the words of Jesus. The message of the angels, given in the Law was binding and punishment for violation of the Law was just, and the writer poses the question; how shall we escape if we ignore the message of the Son?

This message serves as a warning to us all, that we must pay close attention to the message of Jesus, the message of salvation – and not drift away, like boat without an anchor.

A Mission Action Plan (MAP) is a living document that describes a church community, their values and importantly their vision and aspirations for the future. Part of the ongoing review in the Parish of Burnie has been a process of reviewing the Connections MAP. Towards the end of 2009, we began this process by reviewing our “core biblical values”, which we brought to the congregation’s attention in order to receive feedback.

As advertised on Sunday, we have now reached the point in the process where it is important to receive further feedback and input into the entire document as we prepare to finalise and publish our new MAP.

To this end, we will be hosting a MAP night on Sunday 11th July, from 7:30-9:30pm at the Cam Rise Uniting Church, Wragg St. Somerset. This will be an opportunity for you to read, reflect, discuss, question and have input into our current and future directions. Please take this opportunity to be involved in the process as we move forward as a community by God’s grace.